Ways to make the shuttle cheaper and safer ?

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seth_381

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I had a bit of a brainstorm after watching about the Buran Program and thought of ways to help make shuttles current and future cheaper. For example Buran had no on board engines so I figure if there aren't on board engines that is one less thing on the orbiter that needs maintained and repaired. Now with an engine less orbiter sit it atop an external fuel tank and put the engines on the bottom of the tank like the constellation program. So sitting the orbiter on top of the tank would prevent foam strikes plus the orbiter not having engines would help reduce costs. What do you think of my idea.
 
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vulture4

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Liquid fueled engines have proven quite safe since the Apollo pogo incident over 40 years ago, with only one in-flight shutdown of one engine in the Shuttle program, and that due to a faulty sensor. Solids are, i think it's fair to say, somewhat less safe. Which is more expensive, a new expendable engine or refurbishing a reusable one? For solids, refurbishing an SRB is extremely labor-intensive, and, when all costs are considered, probably significantly more expensive than building a new one. For example, every part must be abrasive-blasted to remove all coating and plating, then magnafluxed and replated before reassembly. Refurbishing the Shuttle Main Engines is more economical. Now, the RS-68 is an expendable liquid-fuel engine with remarkable performance and relatively low cost. But if a future shuttle engine is designed to go a substantial number of flights between overhauls, if the vehicle lands on a runway rather than in salt water, and if the engine is designed to simplify the overhaul procedure, then I think a reusable liquid-fueled engine can definitely be less expensive, in total life cycle cost, then an expendable one that must be replaced with each flight. To verify that this is true we need a reusable, unmanned liquid-fueled technology demonstrator, like the X-34, X-33, or DC-X.
 
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seth_381

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So your saying eliminate SRB's or use throw aways. It is odd how throwing things away is cheaper but that is why I said connect the main engines to the ET and just toss em.
 
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